How to play Legends of Runeterra on Mac

March 2023 · 7 minute read

The biggest appeal to card games for many people is that they’re available on almost any platform, alongside the epic gameplay filled with countless strategic choices. 

With low system requirements and crossplay features, you can pick up your Legends of Runeterra progress from where you left off on your iOS/Android phone and PC. But Mac devices aren’t compatible with the game just yet. This forces fans who don’t own a Windows PC to keep playing on their phones and tablets, which can get tiring over time.

While most Mac devices are more than capable of running games with low system requirements, like LoR, it’s the software that makes it challenging for developers to adapt their game. A MacOS client requires a separate team since it’s close to impossible to port your Windows version without any bugs and not every development team has the resources to pull this off.

Mac clients also require a separate team to implement all the performance and visual updates since the process will be completely different than how it is on Windows.

Considering Mac users make up one of the smallest minorities in a game’s player base, Mac clients can take longer to develop since there isn’t enough demand to justify the man-hours. Mac gamers aren’t without options, however, and there are a couple of ways you can try to start slinging LoR cards on your Mac.

Here’s how you can play Legends of Runeterra on a Mac

The usual way that Mac users prefer to run Windows compatible games is by installing Windows on their Macs. Though it’s more of a permanent solution, it also defeats the purpose of owning a Mac since MacOS is a vital part of the experience. 

LoR being available on mobile platforms like Google Play Store and Apple Play Store makes way for a second solution, however, which can be less time-consuming.

1) Play Legends of Runeterra via an Android emulator on Mac

An Android emulator with a Mac client is one of the easiest ways to play mobile games on your Mac. Legends of Runeterra isn’t necessarily a mobile game, but it has mobile clients, which is a key for this method.

Before you start applying the following steps, you should know that there’s a chance you may not be able to run LoR through an emulator if the game detects that you’re on one. This is a standard measure used by most mobile games and only affects a small percentage of the user base. 

Setting up an emulator doesn’t take that long and you can always opt-in for the second method if the first one fails to deliver.

Download an Android emulator that’s compatible with Mac

Countless Android emulators work on Mac, but we decided to go with Bluestacks for testing purposes. You’ll need to download the emulator through its official website and install it like any other Mac app.

Your Mac may try to verify the emulator multiple times while installing since it’ll also be installing some necessary software frameworks that emulators need to function correctly. Launch the emulator once it’s done installing and you should be greeted with a welcome screen.

Create a Google account or log in with an existing one

You’ll then need to enter your Google credentials or create a Google account if you don’t have one. After the sign-in process, the emulator should guide you back to the homepage.

Head over to the Google Play Store and search for Legends of Runeterra. If the game doesn’t appear with a search, it may not be available for your emulator and you can try your luck by side-loading the game via its latest APK file.

Here’s a quick guide explaining how you can install games with APK files.

Exit the Google Play Store after LoR finishes installing successfully and launch the game via its icon on the main screen. The game should run as if you’re on an Android device now and Bluestacks will prompt you with all the keybinds you’ll need to know.

You’ll be able to log in with your Riot account to sync your process and continue playing with your existing card library.

If you get kicked out prematurely before loading into the game multiple times, you can try rebooting your system before moving on to the next method, but you’ll most likely need to follow the Boot Camp method.

2) The Boot Camp method to install Windows on your Mac

The quality of life improvements that MacOS has over Windows makes it a much more simplistic experience. Gamers, on the other hand, may find themselves wishing they were on a Windows PC because not all games are compatible with MacOS. But installing Windows on your Mac is a relatively simple process and is no different than installing it on a fresh gaming rig build.

Mac’s included “Boot Camp Assistant” will be your gateway to installing Windows. You’ll need to follow these steps, which are quite straightforward.

If this is going to be your first time installing a game on a Windows operating system, we recommend following this guide, which goes over all the details of installing LoR.

3) The remote control method

Though it may sound like a far-fetched idea, most gamers use their Mac devices as workstations and own a Windows system. If you take your Mac with you every day to complete simple productivity tasks, there’s one alternate way you can play LoR as long as you have a stable internet connection at home.

You’ll need to keep your home PC on throughout the day for this method to work, however, since you’ll be connecting to it with your Mac. Software like Teamviewer, VNC, and Bomgar will allow you to establish a remote connection with your PC and you’ll basically be streaming LoR from your home to your Mac.

Downloading one of these programs or a similar software to both of your devices will be enough for you to control your PC remotely, but you’ll also need to install LoR on your Windows machine before doing any of that.

You may experience slight delays and lag while using this method, but it shouldn’t be too bad to affect your overall experience as long as you have a decent internet connection on both of your devices.

You could also mirror your phone display onto your Mac, but you’ll ultimately be playing on your phone with this method.

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